Service 169 is both a residential and an industrial route, serving the housing estates of Woodlands, Yishun and Ang Mo Kio (and the private estates of Upper Thomson) with connections to Woodlands Regional, Yishun and Ang Mo Kio Town Centres. The route also serves Woodlands Industrial Park and various industries along Senoko and Admiralty Road West, providing connections to Woodlands and Yishun.

As an inter-town route, demand is moderate throughout the day. Peak hour demand is very high due to workers commuting to and from the industrial areas. The route operates a relatively large split-shift fleet along with the deployment of Shortworking Trip 169A to cater for high passenger loading. Students of Republic Polytechnic (RP) also rely on the route to and from Woodlands Regional Interchange.

Formerly a Singapore Bus Service (SBS) route since the 1970s, the route was transferred to Trans-Island Bus Service (TIBS) in 1983 and has been operated by SMRT ever since. High capacity articulated / double-deck buses buses are deployed due to high demand during peak periods. SMRT’s Alexander Dennis Enviro500double-deck buses appeared on the route since Oct 2014.